Grand Gothik

Parachute Type foundry asked us to make some supportive materials for and with their new variable typeface PF Grand Gothik. The interpolation and extrapolation mechanisms used in the emerging variable font technology made us think instantly of mechanisms, proper to moving image or cinematography. In our approach we decided to use typical cinematic archetypes to present this new Parachute release and possibly to think about the relation of movement and type. This reflection resulted firstly in 3 trailers exploring variable narrative possibilities existing within the PF Grand Gothic font.

As a further exploration of the cinematic aspect of type we proposed a pocked-sized compendium that works on one side as a filpbook announcing “The End of Cinema” and on the other as a heroic — also unrealistic — gesture of compressing the history of cinema in a selection of 66 films, using type to express something of ache selected movie. The book is designed in the typical cinematic standard of 16:9.

As final part of the project we where invited by Parachute to do a pop-up exhibition and a lecture at Typeroom. You can find a written account of this lecture “Cinematography: The Voice of Typography” proposing a larger refection on the use of type in cinema here.